Chris Johnson #28 of the Tennessee Titans runs with the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 21, 2008 at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Orlando native Chris Johnson definitely isn’t afraid to use twitter to speak his mind. The Tennessee Titans running back ripped “fake Titans” fans on his twitter account for criticizing his decision to holdout for a more lucrative contract.

Generally, I think it’s not the best idea to respond to critics who become disrespectful. It’s OK to have an opinion and disagree, but you’re not obligated to knock someone back who’s hit you below the belt.

I actually understand and agree with Chris Johnson’s perspective here, but a professional athlete is at a huge disadvantage in winning the public’s opinion. Most people can’t respect the financial warfare with between teams and athletes behind closed doors because we have a tendency to agree with things that we can sympathize with or relate to. Obviously, athletes work in environments that fall outside of the norm and most people aren’t trying to give compassion to a millionaire – even if that person is fighting a fair fight.

So what do you think sports fans? Should Chris Johnson have responded or kept quiet?

The Tennessee Titans running back admits his personal goal has been challenged by the lockout given the circumstances of his team. The Titans gave former quarterback Vince Young and former head coach Jeff Fisher their walking papers earlier this year. Now, the team will try to adjust under new leadership of Mike Munchak and a rookie quarterback in Jake Locker with no offseason training.

But Chris Johnson’s confidence is rarely, if ever, shaken.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” Johnson said in reference to breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season 2,105 rushing record. “[Opponents] know what type of player I am and what I’m capable of so no matter if I say it or not, the coach is still going to come and put 8 or 9 players in the box.”

You’ll recall that Chris Johnson was named the Offensive Player of the Year for his 2009 NFL campaign in which he became just the sixth player in history to rush for more than 2,000 yards. He also broke Marshall Faulk’s record for total yards from scrimmage with 2,509 yards.

In 2010, Chris Johnson was a bigger target for his opponents, who held him to 1,364 season yards.

“He got 2,000, which was great, but trying to get over 2,000 is just too tough in this league,” Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Kirk Morrison told the NFL Network.

The NFL Network ranked Chris Johnson No. 13 on it’s list of the top players of 2011. With the 2011 NFL lockout, Chris Johnson has been training in Orlando with his former Carver middle school track and flag football coach Boris Jackson. Fellow NFL comrade Brian Witherspoon of the New York Giants has also been training with Jackson’s SpeedPlus’ speed camp.

Given the Titans’ new quarterback, new coach and lack of offseason training, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact this will have on Johnson’s personal goal.

The strange tweet launched an investigation from officials at Seattle Public Schools and concluded Garfield High School’s athletic director and principal Ted Howard set up the course to bolster Wroten’s grades so he would qualify to attend the University of Washington.

During the investigation, the district also found that Valiere allowed six ineligible football players to play in a game, gave secret waivers for athletic fees to 19 students and misled league and state sports administrators according to the Seattle Times.

But let’s not make this another diatribe on the cultural ills of social media.

Instead of blaming twitter, Facebook and cell phones for the destruction of the world, let’s place accountability where it belongs. And in the situation of Tony Wroten Jr., the blame lies with his high school administrators.

So what that his tweet got them fired. If they hadn’t been engaging in questionable behavior, then there would be nothing to hide.

Social media provides a level of transparency and gives a platform for open conversation, opinion and a place to share information. People, not technology, create the controversy.

Tennessee Titans backup quarterback Chris Simms, son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, is shown after his arrest at a police sobriety checkpoint in New York, July 1, 2010. Simms went on trial Monday in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of driving while high on marijuana. He could face up to a year in prison if convicted of the misdemeanor charge. (AP Photo/District Attorney of New York)

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms was arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana last summer and his trial began this week.

Chris Simms, the son of CBS NFL analyst Phil Simms, contested the charge saying a passenger in his car was smoking marijuana, but he was smoking cigarettes that night according to online reports. He declined to take a urine test after his arrest, which would have detected drug use.

The arresting officer testified that Chris Simms had slurred speech and walked unsteadily when he was pulled over at 1 a.m. at a sobriety checkpoint in Manhattan

“He was out of it. Like a zombie,” the officer said.

The prosecuting attorney, Alexandra Glazer, said Simms passed out on a holding-cell floor after he was arrested in her opening statement. prosecutor Alexandra Glazer added in an opening statement.

Chris Simms, currently with the Tennessee Titans, competed for the Bucs from 2003-07, where he famously ruptured his spleen during a regular season game against the Carolina Panthers in 2006. He’s completed nine seasons in the NFL.

One fact is certain – someone was smoking weed in Chris Simms’ car that night. And perhaps the old Michael Irving excuse of “I didn’t do it, but my friend did” is actually true.

But if you have the type of friends that will light up a doobie in your car with careless disregard for your concern, then it’s time to choose new friends.

For those who have worked and/or know Seminole high school football coach Mike Cullison, there should be no doubt that he is not a racist despite his deplorable use of the N-word.

Cullison used the N-word jokingly with an assistant coach Ronald Moore, who reported the incident to his superiors. As my co-worker Mike Bianchi eloquently wrote in today’s paper, several of Cullison’s former athletes have stepped in to support their former coach, including Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson.

“I talk to him all the time,” Johnson told me on the phone. “He’s always trying to help everybody. I know that guy, he’s not a racist.”

Kenny Turner, also Chris Johnson’s friend, was sent to state prison at 16-years-old and cut short a promising football career. When almost every coach turned his back on Turner, Cullison was there. He wrote letters of support to Turner when he was in prison and helped him every step of the way to get a Division I scholarship to New Mexico State.

There are several other examples I could cite to show Cullison’s character over the past four years I’ve known him, but you get the point.

The bigger issue at hand, as we stand just a few days out from Martin Luther King Day, is the use of the N-word. So many hurdles have been cleared in the past five decades, including President Barack Obama’s 2008 nomination as America’s first president of African American descent.

But we still can’t get rid of this stupid word.

It’s a complex issue within the African American community. Some hate the N-word for its ugly, painful history. Some believe as long as it’s the N-word that ends with an “a” and not an “er” it’s OK because it doesn’t have the same connotation. It’s almost a term of endearment.

“I don’t mind using it,” Chris Johnson said. “There’s a difference between the “a” and the “er.”

Surely, Johnson has heard this word on more than a few occasions in the locker room. When you combine Johnson’s environment and age (he’s 25), I expect these things to desensitize his perspective on the word.

But when I asked Johnson if it was OK for a white person to say the N-word, he said no.

Herein lies the complexity of this word. African Americans know it is an offensive word on some level, but say it is excusable in very particular situations and then expect other cultures to understand the “rules” of the word.

I think in 2011, most people outside of the African American community understand this. But as in the case of 52-year-old Mike Cullison he did not.

As an African American woman, I’m opposed to the use of the N-word. Truth must be truth in all circumstances, not some.

If the truth about the N-word is that it’s unacceptable, then it can’t be acceptable in “some” situations. After all, how can we teach respect, if we’re not willing to be consistent in respecting ourselves?

Items sit in the locker of Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young at the team's practice facility on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn. The Titans' playoff hopes that came with a 5-2 start in the season disappeared with injuries to Young and eight losses in their final nine games. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck indirectly cleared at least one avenue for recently booted Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young after Luck announced he would stay at Stanford Thursday.

Luck, in the mind of several NFL analysts, was the undoubted No. 1 pick. But while other stud quarterbacks pepper the 2011 NFL draft, NFL owners can’t lose sight of another viable talent in Vince Young.

While Young’s off-the-field behavior has raised red flags, his on-the-field record can’t be overlooked. Young, 27, is a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback and is 30-18 in NFL starts.

He is still young enough to re-brand himself, but the question is who will give him a shot?

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson talks with reporters on Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, in the team's locker room at their practice facility in Nashville, Tenn. Players cleaned out their lockers Monday after losing to the Indianapolis Colts 23-20 Sunday. The Titans' playoff hopes that came with a 5-2 start in the season disappeared with injuries to quarterback Vince Young and eight losses in their final nine games. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Earlier this season, Tennessee Titans running back and Orlando native Chris Johnson partnered with POWERADE for the “Running Back to Schools” program where the sports drink company pledged $10 to Davidson County schools athletic programs for every rushing yard Johnson registered.

Johnson didn’t reach his goal of surpassing 2,500 rushing yards this season. But he was at least able to do some good with his 1,364 season rushing yards. A total of $13,640 will be distributed among 17 schools.

“I had a little extra incentive this year to rack up the yards,” Johnson said in a press release. “I’m happy that POWERADE and I could help improve some playing conditions for these kids, and I hope to make a visit to some Nashville city schools to see how this donation is put to use.”

Former NFL running back Eric Dickerson smiles during a news conference to announce his election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Miami, Saturday, Jan. 30, 1999. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

The verdict has been out for a while on Chris Johnson’s lofty goal of beating Eric Dickerson’s 1984 single season rushing record [2,105 yards] . It’s a definite no-go especially after the Tennessee Titans dismal 17-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in which he collected 53 yards on 13 carries.

So we caught up with Eric Dickerson,50, Monday during a conference call promoting ESPN’s latest 30 for 30 documentary, Pony Exce$$, premiering this weekend to ask him about his thoughts on what goes into a 2000-plus rushing yard season.

Earlier this NFL season Chris Johnson talked about wanting to break your record. I was wondering what you thought when you heard about that and also what kind of things have to go right to rush for more than 2,000 yards in an NFL season?

Dickerson: I heard about him talking about wanting to break my record. The one thing about having a season like that is it’s not something you talk about, especially publicly. Those NFL defenses take that personal, they really do. And coaches take it personal when you say you’re going to rush for 2,000 yards.

Everything has to go right, you have to stay healthy, you can’t fall behind, you have to keep games close. You get down like they did yesterday with 17-zip, all the sudden you have to throw the football. It’s just so much has to go your way.Matter-of-fact going through all my medical records a couple of months ago through the NFL, I found out that year in 1984 I only full practiced seven times that year. Really I wasn’t healthy a lot, but I was able to play in games. And that’s how it is, that’s the life of an NFL running back. It’s a lot that goes into trying to stay healthy to try and rush for 2,000 yards. One thing is that the team has to get into it

Do you think Chris Johnson possibly could break that one day?

Dickerson: It’s possible, it’s always possible. He’ll have to go out and to it first. I don’t want him to break it, I’ll say that (laughs). I think one day that record will be broken. I’ve lived a long life, I hope I’m dead and gone when that happens, but somebody will break it someday.

I think Chris Johnson has the physical ability to reach his goal. He is just in his third NFL season after all. But a series of lucky breaks must fall Johnson’s way for him to reach 2,000-plus yards again. Judging by the way things look in Tennessee right now, it may be a while.

NBC football analyst and former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy works on the sideline during halftime of the Army/Notre Dame NCAA college football game at Yankee Stadium in New York. By Associated Press

The upsets and surprises just kept coming Sunday night in the NFL. But one of the surprises came off the field from the NBC studio.

Discussing the NFL results before the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens game, NBC football analyst Tony Dungy told his comrades that despite the Jacksonville Jaguars’ convincing 17-6 over the Tennessee Titans he doesn’t buy into the Jags quite yet.

“I still don’t think they’re a great team,” Dungy said.

That being said, Dungy still picked the Jags as his “winner” of the night. I can somewhat understand where Dungy is coming from considering how inconsistent Jacksonville has been over the past few years. And while the Jaguars may not be a “great” team yet, they are certainly a good one.

I’m picking the Jaguars win over the Titans as the surprise of the night. Not so much because Jacksonville won, but because of the manner in which the Titans lost. Absolutely no effort and no run game (the team’s bread and butter) in such a heated division rivalry.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially taken over first place in the AFC South ahead of the Indianapolis Colts. Ever think that would happen two years ago?

Floyd Mayweather may be too scared to fight Manny Pacquiao, but maybe somebody should give Andre Johnson a call.

Andre Johnson got into what appeared to be a one-sided beatdown when he knocked Tennessee Titans cornerback Courtland Finnegan in the head a few times after a Finnegan grabbed his face mask. Johnson was fined last year for grabbing Finnegan’s face mask.

The NFL did not suspend Andre Johnson for the fight, but both Johnson and Finnegan were fined $25,000 each for the altercation according to the Associated Press.